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LOW COST RECOVERY TECHNIQUES
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Discussion
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For most of us, fitness is a hobby and an expensive one. By the time we purchase gym or class memberships, packages with trainers, athleisure clothing, and footwear, there isn’t any budget left for anything else.
We’re either short on time or money, which means our recovery strategy is on the chopping block.
Can you relate?Like everything else in the fitness space, there are a ton of recovery tools and techniques. Some are time-tested and backed by science to help fitness enthusiasts maximize performance, and others are dripping in BS.
Here’s the main takeaway – you don’t have to spend a lot of money to recover from your training, so you get the most of your training sessions.
HOW MUCH RECOVERY DO YOU NEED?
The amount of time you need away from the gym will depend on the individual. Variables such as daily life, stressors, training intensity,y, and nutrition determine how much time is needed between training sessions.
Your training should follow a logical and progressive approach in which intensity will ebb and flow over time. Implementing strategies such as deload weeks, rep scheme and exercise variation, and tracking your total training volume (weight x reps x sets) can help you find the sweet spot for consistent training with sufficient recovery.
Your training goal should be to find your ideal training volume, which is found when you’re able to show up to each training session feeling fully recovered, and energized to give your all. If you’re consistently showing up to the gym dragging ass, feeling sore as hell, or having to skip sessions because you’re tired or too busy – something has to give.
Play around with your splits, programs, and approach. I promise there’s a better way.Read more about periodization:
https://thefourpercent.com/2019/12/11/the-basics-of-periodization/
PRIORITIZING SLEEP AND SLEEP HYGIENE
It’s simple. Boring. And essentially free. It’s not sexy tho so it doesn’t get the attention it deserves in mainstream marketing.
SLEEP!!!!
Sleep will impact every aspect of your life – not just your training – quality sleep can and will do wonders for your life in and out of the gym.
In Foundation, our sixth lecture is all about sleep and sleep hygiene. We discuss why sleep is so crucial, the exact hormonal and chemical reactions, and their impact on our training and physique. If you haven’t taken the master class or aren’t in the position to do so, I’ll sum it up to the most basic level.
Sleep will indirectly influence your body composition, performance, and energy balance. So we have to prioritize it and get those zzz’s.
Read more about the importance of sleep:
https://thefourpercent.com/2017/01/11/january-goal-get-sleep/
STRESS MANAGEMENT
Poor stress management outside of the gym can hold the progress we can achieve in our training. And that makes sense, right? When we are overly stressed, it’s hard to be enthusiastic about our training because we’re exhausted.
Calming our minds to unwind and unpack the stresses from life can go a long way. It feels GOOD TO FEEL GOOD, so allow yourself to feel amazing. Our society rewards suffering and uses suffering as a status symbol – being so busy you can’t even think straight is idolized while resting, and saying NO is lazy. It’s fahked up.
So take some downtime.
Reading
Journaling
Hot showers/baths
Meditation
Watching TV or a movie
Find something you enjoy and relish in feeling GOOD – without dropping a ton of coin.
WALKING
Often we’ll bring a lot of intensity to training sessions but are sedentary on programmed rest days.
Instead of eliminating activity on a rest day, take a walk.Have you heard of active recovery? I’m sure you have.
The idea behind active recovery is that we’re being active enough to facilitate blood flow, which can help remove the metabolites that accumulate during training, which means removing the substance that breaks down muscle tissue.
Active recovery will raise our heart rate and increase blood flow, but it doesn’t produce additional fatigue.SELF MASSAGE
Self-massage can help improve muscle soreness by breaking up muscle knots and facilitating blood flow after exercise.
The best type of massage is by a professional, physical therapist, or another licensed practitioner…but frequent sessions can add up fast. I certainly can’t afford to get massages weekly, so instead, I’ve got a quality roller and percussive massage device to keep me as loose as I can on my own.
Brands I love are: Hyperice, Theragun, TriggerPoint, and even Barry’s have some recovery options in the shop!
https://www.tptherapy.com/how-to-grid-foam-roller
https://shop.barrys.com/collections/equipment
IN CONCLUSION
You don’t need to spend a lot of money to relax and recover, but you DO need to make it a priority. So commit…and enjoy.
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